\u201cIt really is going to come down to who’s going to be the first one to have a private development plant their flag there,\u201d Baker said.<\/p>\n
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\n Courtesy of Avison Young\n <\/p>\n
\n Willets Point, despite being flanked by the populous neighborhoods of Corona and Flushing and next to some of NYC’s highest-profile economic engines, has little private market development.\n <\/p>\n
This month, a partnership between\u00a0Related Cos<\/a>.\u00a0and\u00a0Sterling Equities<\/a>, which has received\u00a0at least $500M in financing so far<\/a>, cut the ribbon on the first 880 apartments out of 2,500 new affordable homes planned in Willets Point.<\/p>\n The development accompanies the New York City Football Club\u2019s long-awaited\u00a0$800M\u00a0soccer stadium,\u00a0expected to open next summer<\/a>.<\/p>\n The costliest project of all,\u00a0Steve Cohen<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Hard Rock International<\/a>\u2019s $8B casino-centered entertainment complex,\u00a0is preparing to start construction<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cQueens has always had the largest land mass,\u201d Queens Borough President Donovan Richards<\/a>\u00a0said. \u201cAnd with the largest land mass comes a lot of opportunity, because we’ve always historically had a lot of undeveloped land.\u201d<\/p>\n A\u00a0PropertyScout<\/a>\u00a0data analysis provided to\u00a0Bisnow\u00a0suggests that owners could capitalize on the neighborhood\u2019s new momentum: Between 2021 and 2025, land prices within a mile of the Willets Point subway stop increased by 51%.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that you see what we’ve developed, you could certainly see that the fuse has been lit,\u201d said Related Executive Vice President\u00a0Frank Monterisi, who is leading the company’s Willets Point project.<\/p>\n One owner in the neighborhood is trying to cash in: The Fodera family, which\u00a0has been\u00a0in the bakery supply business for 80 years, is selling a 138K SF site at 129-02 Willets Point Blvd.<\/p>\n The property could yield up to 332K SF of development, according to an\u00a0Avison Young<\/a>\u00a0marketing brochure shared with Bisnow.\u00a0James Nelson<\/a>, one of the brokers representing the family, said his team is soliciting bids \u201cnorth of $60M.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe’ve actually been in discussions with the family ownership for 10 years,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cIt was always just a question of when is the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n Economic Engines Not Yet\u00a0Driving Activity<\/p>\n A century ago, F. Scott Fitzgerald\u00a0is rumored to have drawn inspiration for<\/a>\u00a0The Great Gatsby\u2019s Valley of Ashes from a dump in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n Decades later, Willets Point\u2019s skein of autobody and steelwork shops led to the nickname \u201cThe Iron Triangle<\/a>.\u201d And as recently as 2013, it didn’t even\u00a0have sidewalks or sewers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen modern New York was built, with all the infrastructure and roads and everything, Willets was kind of left behind,\u201d Monterisi said. \u201cIt was really like a dumping ground.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Former mayors have long pushed for changes to\u00a0help Willets Point grow.<\/p>\n Michael Bloomberg\u00a0proposed a megamall<\/a>. Bill de Blasio scrapped that and paved the way for Related and Sterling Equities\u2019 affordable housing developments, which broke ground\u00a0in December 2023<\/a>. Eric Adams\u00a0poured $270M into<\/a>\u00a0the neighborhood\u2019s transformation, including cash for\u00a0crucial sewer infrastructure<\/a>, and he\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0the\u00a0Etihad Park soccer stadium<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n Bisnow\/Mark Bonner\n <\/p>\n \n Etihad Park, the NYCFC’s stadium, under construction in early June\n <\/p>\n Willets Point\u2019s western and southern borders are now major NYC economic hubs. The\u00a0Citi Field<\/a>\u00a0baseball stadium\u00a0and the U.S. Tennis Association\u2019s Billie Jean King National Tennis Center generate\u00a0millions of dollars in revenue<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0billions in economic impact<\/a>. Across the river to the east,\u00a0Flushing<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 home to NYC\u2019s largest Chinatown \u2014 has experienced a development boom\u00a0in recent years<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cohen\u2019s\u00a0Metropolitan Park<\/a>\u00a0casino would become another economic engine on the border of the neighborhood,\u00a0bringing in an estimated $33.5B in tax revenue<\/a>. The complex, which pulled off\u00a0a complicated political maneuver<\/a>\u00a0to obtain some of its land, will add 35 acres of green space, a Hard Rock Hotel, a live music venue able to accommodate more than 5,500 people, and 450 units of 100% affordable housing.<\/p>\n \u201cCould I have ever envisioned that the Valley of Ashes would turn into the Valley of Opportunity?\u201d Richards said. \u201cYou know, I’m always a hopeful person.\u201d<\/p>\n But even now, neither buyers nor sellers are making moves in\u00a0Willets Point<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe businesses that are on this remaining land are all flourishing,\u201d Walsh said. \u201cThese owners who own the businesses and the land can continue to operate, and they’re in no rush to sell.\u201d<\/p>\n Development site buyers, meanwhile, would have to be institutional investors or large private players with equally deep pockets, Walsh said.<\/p>\n They would have to time their project\u2019s delivery with the casino\u2019s\u00a0planned 2030 opening date<\/a>\u00a0for new developments to yield appetizing rents. Doing so involves holding on to land through multiple refinancing cycles, adding to the cost that developers would need to pay.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you have $40M sitting around and could park your money here and get the land at a pretty cheap basis, then you’d hit a home run,\u201d Baker said. \u201cIt’s just tough to park that much capital there.\u201d<\/p>\n Zoning Is Dampening Development Demand<\/p>\n Two sales identified in PropertyScout data may hint at developers and investors dipping their toes in the water in Willets Point.<\/p>\n In October, a company linked to the St. John family netted $20M by selling a gas station on a 0.9-acre lot at 127-48 Northern Blvd., just feet away from a six-lane highway,\u00a0The Real Deal reported<\/a>. No plans for that site have yet been filed with the Department of Buildings.<\/p>\n \n Courtesy of SHoP Architects\/Field Operations\n <\/p>\n \n A rendering of Steve Cohen and Hard Rock International’s casino proposal\n <\/p>\n In March,\u00a0Hiwin Group USA<\/a>\u00a0and Sam Chang\u2019s\u00a0McSam Hotel Group<\/a>\u00a0scored a $110M construction loan from Maxim Capital for a site at 131-02 40th Road, just across the Flushing Creek.<\/p>\n The developers are planning an 800-room hotel on the site after buying it for $32M last year and obtaining the special permit required by the city for new hotel construction. The hotel will eventually be triple-branded, with rooms under True by Hilton, Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton and Stay Home Suites by Hilton flags.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maxim co-founder and Managing Partner\u00a0Adam Glick\u00a0said while he would like more opportunities to lend on Willets Point projects, developer demand isn\u2019t there yet.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve really been focused on the Flushing side, where our borrowers have taken us,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s definitely early, but I think based on what’s going on on the Willets Point side, there’s going to be a tremendous amount of development over the next few years.\u201d<\/p>\n Additionally, developers eyeing the area may have difficulty identifying projects because of the neighborhood\u2019s haphazard zoning, PropertyScout CEO Wilson Parry said.<\/p>\n \u201cImagine walking into a dollar store to buy a pair of $1 scissors and finding nine different prices depending on which aisle you\u2019re standing in, what day of the week it is, and whether you\u2019re wearing a blue shirt,\u201d he said by email. \u201cThat\u2019s Willets Point zoning.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n